jacktannery
Explorer
Hey guys,
I’m going to start a new pbp 4E game on rpol.net. I want it to be a collaborative, scene-framed, improv-inspired game, very unlike any game I’ve previously DMd. I got this idea from reading posts by @pemerton, @Manbearcat and @Neonchameleon amongst others, on this forum, which I found incredibly inspiring – and now I want to try out their ideas.
I am looking for some specific advice about how to make this work, both for me as GM and for what to look for/ask prospective players. I will be writing an advert for the game to recruit interested players and I want to make sure my ducks are all in a row first.
Here’s the key points about what I want to achieve:
1.No pre-decided plot – story emerges from the action of characters. No world building. No module.
2.Improv lessons: collaborative approach with players and GM, YES AND. All players can contribute to the world/scene and establish facts about the world/scene so long as they do not take away what someone else said first. Fail forward, e.g. for skill challenges.
3.Hard scene framing. GM sets the beginning point of the scene, which is packed with action, adventure, conflict and decision points, and has a sense of important things about to happen/happening. No one knows how the scene is going to play out or be resolved. Crucially, the scene involves PC personality, goals, flaws, relationships, dependencies, desires, problems, and stakes that the players have signalled they really care about through their PCs. Also crucially, all players and the GM should know the purpose of the scene.
Once that scene is fully resolved, through PC action, the GM is then able to use that resolution to inform the next scene frame. Bits in between which have no conflict or decision aspects are fast-forwarded.
Eg. http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...o-D-amp-D-4e&p=6074052&viewfull=1#post6074052
* *
So, like I said, I haven’t done this before. I think the crucial thing is to get four players who are enthusiastic to try it out, so I can be explicit about what I’m hoping to do in the advert.
Question One: should I wait until I get a full team before deciding on the overall setting (e.g. fantasy vs star wars or whatever) or should I just discuss this with the players? Ditto for the first scene: do I pick a random scene in a great movie and adapt to players, or should scene 1 emerge naturally through player-GM collaboration. I understand that scenes 2+ should emerge naturally through play.
Question Two: to those of you who have played like this (e.g. Pemerton etc.) do you have any experience translating this to play by post, which is a slower medium?
Question Three: I was just going to use rules-as-written 4E but are there any rules adjustments (house rules) to make that would help achieve the goals above?
Question Four: Anything I should look out for in particular when recruiting suitable players?
Hopefully some of you will have some insight to give me before I do this!
I’m going to start a new pbp 4E game on rpol.net. I want it to be a collaborative, scene-framed, improv-inspired game, very unlike any game I’ve previously DMd. I got this idea from reading posts by @pemerton, @Manbearcat and @Neonchameleon amongst others, on this forum, which I found incredibly inspiring – and now I want to try out their ideas.
I am looking for some specific advice about how to make this work, both for me as GM and for what to look for/ask prospective players. I will be writing an advert for the game to recruit interested players and I want to make sure my ducks are all in a row first.
Here’s the key points about what I want to achieve:
1.No pre-decided plot – story emerges from the action of characters. No world building. No module.
2.Improv lessons: collaborative approach with players and GM, YES AND. All players can contribute to the world/scene and establish facts about the world/scene so long as they do not take away what someone else said first. Fail forward, e.g. for skill challenges.
3.Hard scene framing. GM sets the beginning point of the scene, which is packed with action, adventure, conflict and decision points, and has a sense of important things about to happen/happening. No one knows how the scene is going to play out or be resolved. Crucially, the scene involves PC personality, goals, flaws, relationships, dependencies, desires, problems, and stakes that the players have signalled they really care about through their PCs. Also crucially, all players and the GM should know the purpose of the scene.
Once that scene is fully resolved, through PC action, the GM is then able to use that resolution to inform the next scene frame. Bits in between which have no conflict or decision aspects are fast-forwarded.
Eg. http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...o-D-amp-D-4e&p=6074052&viewfull=1#post6074052
* *
So, like I said, I haven’t done this before. I think the crucial thing is to get four players who are enthusiastic to try it out, so I can be explicit about what I’m hoping to do in the advert.
Question One: should I wait until I get a full team before deciding on the overall setting (e.g. fantasy vs star wars or whatever) or should I just discuss this with the players? Ditto for the first scene: do I pick a random scene in a great movie and adapt to players, or should scene 1 emerge naturally through player-GM collaboration. I understand that scenes 2+ should emerge naturally through play.
Question Two: to those of you who have played like this (e.g. Pemerton etc.) do you have any experience translating this to play by post, which is a slower medium?
Question Three: I was just going to use rules-as-written 4E but are there any rules adjustments (house rules) to make that would help achieve the goals above?
Question Four: Anything I should look out for in particular when recruiting suitable players?
Hopefully some of you will have some insight to give me before I do this!